They Keep Rolling In...

Courtesy: University of Minnesota - Becky Bohm

Minnesota junior Hassan Mead earned his second consecutive U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Athlete of the Year award, the USTFCCCA announced today. Mead captured back-to-back NCAA Midwest Region titles, winning the 2009 crown by 28 seconds. The Minneapolis (South HS) native also defended his Big Ten Conference title earlier this month as well.

Two-time All-American Mead and his Golden Gopher teammates compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday, Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind. The national meet will be televised live by the Versus Network.

“Hassan is a special athlete,” said Minnesota head coach Steve Plasencia. “He continues to work hard to improve his running. He is deserving of the awards that are coming his way. I look forward to Hassan running a great race next week at the NCAAs.”

NCAA At-Large Bid

The XC team learned of their NCAA At-Large bid Sunday evening... way to go guys!

Big Ten XC Video

Congrats also to Hassan Mead... 2009 'Big Ten Runner of the Year'!

Mead does it again... XC third.

STORY FROM GOPHERSPORTS.COM - BECKY BOHM


Minnesota junior Hassan Mead captured the individual title at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships leading the Golden Gophers to a third-place finish in the team standings.

Mead covered the 5.2-mile course at the Penn State Cross Country Course in a time of 25 minutes, 0.2 seconds. He is the third Gopher to win two or more Big Ten cross country crowns, joining Fred Watson (1913-15) and Garry Bjorklund (1969-71). Mead is the 19th Big Ten multiple champion and first since Wisconsin’s Simon Bairu won back-to-back crowns in 2004-04. Mead, who crossed the finish line 5.7 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, also collected his third All-Big Ten First Team honor of his career.

Senior Matt Barrett contributed a ninth-place finish to earn All-Big Ten Second Team accord. Barrett was timed in 25:35.2.

The Gophers compiled 97 team points to finish third behind Wisconsin (26) and Ohio State (91). The Badgers won their 11th straight Big Ten title.

Completing the scoring for the Gophers was Ben Blankenship, who finished 18th (25:53.4); Pieter Gagnon, who placed 27th in 26:09.4; and Derek Storkel, who finished 42nd in 26:41.9.

Other Gophers running were Paul Hilsen, who finished 55th in 27:06.2; and Mike McFarland, who placed 66th in 27:42.9.

Minnesota’s next competition is the NCAA Midwest Region Championships on Nov. 14 in Springfield, Mo.

Big Ten Cross Country Preview

Griak Video - 2009

Congrats Hassan!

After his dominant performance at the 'Griak' this weekend, the Big Ten named Hassan the conference Runner of the Week. Great job Hassan!

New Cross Country Media Guides

Check out this link for the new XC media guides for 2009! Very cool.

Good luck to the distance guys as they take on the field at the 2009 Roy Griak Invite.

Women's Track/Cross Country Blog

Check out the women's new blog!

http://minnesotawomenstrack.blogspot.com/

...my guess is it will be almost as cool as ours :)

First Day of Practice

The cross country guys have been in action for a few weeks... now its the track team's turn. Practice begins today at 3pm!

Message from Athletic Director Joel Maturi

2009 Big Ten Champions

2009 Big Ten Outdoors

Click the album above to check out some great pictures from this years outdoor championships!

Summer Time = ROY TIME!

While the coaching staff and athletes are enjoying a bit of down time... Roy Griak and Jo Rider are hard at work putting the final touches on the golf fundraiser. The event is set for Monday, June 29th at the University Golf Course.

If you have any interest in playing some golf, or even just for joining us for dinner while supporting Gopher Track... we'd love for you see you!

Roy has been working for years now on fundraising for the program, with the ulitimate goal of endowing ALL of the track and field scholarships. This would be a significant step in securing the program for decades to come. The golf outing is the major event of the year.

If you'd like to play, or just support Roy's efforts by donating, please give him a call at 612-625-6063. You can also email me with any questions a rede0025@umn.edu.

Every little bit helps us keep up the kind of success we've experienced this season!

Current Rankings

Thought I'd post an update on our team national ranking... we're in pretty good company in 16th.

Hassan is up tonight!

Pioneer Press on Mead... NCAA Updates

Check out their feature of Hassan HERE.

Hassan advanced last night in the 5k after winning his prelim heat. After rain delays, the 5k went off at about 1am. Chris was unable to advance on time from his section. Studt advanced with his 60'5, ranking 9th going into finals this afternoon. Unfortunately Fisher went down with an achilles injury in the prelims of the high jump.

RJ had a solid first day until a hamstring cramp hampered his 400-meter... dropping him from 4th to 11th. He'll get it started again today in 30 minutes!